Is it good to eat a lot of sour food?

I really like eating sour foods like green mango with salt, tamarind, green plum, etc. Not only green fruits, I also like pickled fruits, pickles, kimchi. I eat them almost every day.

I see people say that eating a lot of sour food is bad for the stomach and digestive cancer, so I'm worried. Please answer, doctor. (Thanh Nga, 28 years old, Ho Chi Minh City)

Reply:

Eating sour foods such as sour fruits (mango, tamarind, tomato, lemon...), fermented foods (fermented butter, yogurt, pickles, pickled fruits...) helps stimulate the taste buds, good for digestion. Every day, adults can eat about 100-200g of fermented foods and balance them with other foods.

However, eating many fermented foods at the same time can cause bloating, stomach discomfort, and worsen symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and stomach ulcers. Because fermented foods stimulate the stomach lining, causing ulcers to become more severely damaged, leading to infection and causing pain.

On the other hand, fermented foods do not undergo a pasteurization process to preserve good bacteria, creating opportunities for harmful bacteria to grow. Salmonella and E.coli can grow in kimchi, pickled cabbage, soy sauce, etc. Salmonella infection causes diarrhea, upper abdominal pain, headache, fever, vomiting, dehydration. E.coli infection can lead to diarrhea, meningitis, bacteremia (bacteria enter the digestive tract and then enter the blood vessels, damaging nearby organs such as the heart, kidneys, and brain, which can be fatal.

Pickled foods contain many beneficial bacteria, eating them in moderation is good for the digestive system. Photo: Freepik

Fermented or pickled foods are defined as foods or beverages produced through the controlled growth of microorganisms and the transformation of food components through the action of enzymes. There are two main methods by which foods are fermented. First, foods can be naturally fermented, whereby microorganisms are naturally present in the raw food or processing environment, such as sauerkraut, kimchi and some fermented soy products. Second, foods can be fermented through the addition of pre-existing cultures, such as kefir, kombucha and natto. As such, fermented foods play an integral role in the cuisines of most cultures around the world, both Eastern and Western.

However, the nitrite content increases when fermented or pickled foods are left for too long. Nitrite is easily reduced to nitrate during the processing of sour foods, so it is not safe. Nitrates react with some amino acids in the stomach to form nitrosamine - a carcinogen. In addition, if you eat pickled fruits that have been left for a long time, it is easy to ingest aflatoxin toxins from mold that enter the body, which can cause cancer. People who eat a lot of pickled foods for a long time are also susceptible to high blood pressure, kidney disease, heart disease, and stomach cancer because they contain a lot of salt.

Sour foods and fermented foods contain lots of vitamin C and good bacteria, which are beneficial for the immune system. However, if the body has too much acidity, the immune system cannot produce antibodies to fight infections, making it easy for inflammation to spread throughout the body. Inflammation can easily lead to type 2 diabetes, kidney disease, kidney stones, cancer, etc.

Sour fruits such as mango, plum, star fruit, tomato... are also rich in acid. For example, 100g of star fruit contains 800-1,250 mg of acid, including 300-500 mg of oxalic acid. People with kidney disease who eat star fruit or drink star fruit juice can be poisoned by high concentrations of oxalic acid, even causing death. In addition, high concentrations of acid in the body also increase the risk of osteoporosis and anemia. The acid in sour foods also removes the protective layer of teeth, leading to yellow teeth, enamel erosion, and over time leading to tooth decay.

Fruits and sour foods used in moderation provide vitamins and minerals for the body. However, people should not abuse them to avoid the health consequences mentioned above.

Master, Doctor, Specialist I Vo Tuan Phong
Endoscopy and Digestive Endoscopic Surgery Center - Tam Anh General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City

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